Asunder
by MeggIsAMachine
Summary: Jack Sparrow has never disliked any one person as much as he dislikes Irelia Watson. When he agrees to aid her brother, who is a friend, in finding the doctor who may have a cure for her illness, all while attempting to pay off a debt to an old acquaintance, he becomes entangled in her life. Love can often times be mistaken for loathing and love never leaves you whole. Jack/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Peering over the hand he had been playing for the past twenty minutes, Jack tried to predict the play of the man sitting across from him. The men had been involved in a rather intense game for what could have possibly hours and Jack badly needed to win. He was cheating of course but so was his opponent and it caused their game to drag on. Jack desperately needed to win due to the fact that he was down to his last few shillings, which he was safety guarding in his left hand.

The man opposite him had won every hand despite being a filthy cheater and if Jack could manage to win all his money back and leave the tavern unscathed, it would be a good night indeed. Was he bluffing? Jack still could not tell but he prayed he was because all his money rested on it. His hand was nearly untouchable, he knew this, but once again none of the standard rules applied because everyone in the room was a seasoned liar. Not to mention, very drunk and hostile. Anything could happen after he laid his cards on the table.

The atmosphere was jovial and good natured around them, not something one usually experienced in a bar frequented by pirates but that was just how things were. The little corner where Jack was playing, however, was a different story. The area was thick with smoke and the smell of alcohol and friendly words were not heard among the men, but rather foul things said under the breath but meant for everyone to hear. Scantily clad women draped themselves over the arms of men and whispered sweet promises into their ears, reaching for their pocket books with one hand and bare skin with the other.

Jack placed his remaining coins in the center of the table and smiled, slowly revealing his cards to the room. A few hollers and exchanging of bets accompanied this but the tune changed quickly once the scrawny man he was playing against flashed his winning cards and scraped up the last bit of coin Jack had.

"God damn." he muttered, laying his forehead against the table and sighing

"Better luck next time, Sparrow." the man chuckled, pocketing Jack's hard earned, or rather stolen, money.

"Luck's got nothing to do with it if we were both cheating." he mumbled, lifting a finger as he spoke.

Now, it was obvious everyone there was a cheat. But to outright proclaim that another man was cheating was not how things worked where Jack came from.

"What did ye say?" the man asked, tentatively reaching for the pistol that he had put into the winners bounty.

Jack held up his hands and slowly stood up, forgetting that he hadn't wanted to cause any problems that night.

"I didn't say anything mate, and if I did, I truly regret it. Take my money, ain't nothing I can't get back two-fold later anyway. Enjoy your night, gents, but I best be off." Jack said, reaching for his hat and quickly leaving the table before the other man decided he wanted to fight.

Stumbling out of the door into the street, Jack shielded his eyes and righted himself for a moment. Realizing there was no reason to be shielding his eyes because it was in fact the dead of night, he ran his hands along his face and whispered to himself about being an idiot. Just how long had he been in there? Not that it mattered, all that mattered was that he found his way to another tavern, one that was devoid of cheating lowlifes, without managing to get himself into trouble.

He couldn't quiet remember where he was for a moment, some little town off the coast of somewhere unimportant. He didn't care; he would remember where he was in the morning after sleeping off the memory of his loss. But he wasn't quite ready to retire to bed. The night was stifling and although there was a slight breeze that lapped at his cheeks, it did nothing to quench the heat. As he stumbled along the alleyways he wandered just how he hadn't been challenged to a duel yet with all the questionable people he managed to run into. Of course he mumbled apologies the whole way and perhaps that is how he made it to the next establishment without angering the locals.

* * *

Waltzing through the door, Jack felt the need to announce his presence with a loud "huzzah" and he was pleased to hear the company in the place chant back to him over the music, acknowledging him as a welcome brother. Looking around he decided that this particular venue would suit his needs quite nicely and although he happened to be without coin, he knew he would manage to acquire several free drinks. His charm could buy him anything he wanted most times.

He found a seat nestled against the stairs leading to the rooms where men and women were no doubt turning sex into a business arrangement, and plopped down, happily ushering a barmaid over with his ringed finger.

"What will it be, handsome?" she asked, smiling and bending over to hear his answer over the slightly out of tune instruments.

"I happen to have smiles and sweet, empty promises as my only form of payment. You bring forth whatever you feel that will cover. Mind you, I am already sloshed." he whispered with a wink.

The woman rolled her eyes but smiled and nodded her head, slinking away. Jack stretched his arms out and reclined in his seat, taking in the tavern. It was fairly small but the patrons seemed to think there was room to spare with how many of them there were. He was lucky to have found an empty seat as it was. Granted a majority of the people there were passed out drunk and splayed across tables and floorboards but it was no matter, it was exactly where he wanted to be.

The barmaid returned with a mug in hand and set it down in front of him, leaning forward again so that her chest was eye level and Jack smiled widely.

"I'll be expecting those empty promises later." she teased, pushing the mug towards him.

"I'm a man of my word." he declared, raising his drink up to her.

Socializing was not what Jack had come to do. He leaned forward in his chair, his elbows on his knees as he surveyed the room. As much as he adored being the center of attention, all he truly desired was a night of peace and no chance of trouble. He listened in on conversations, although most of them were mangled sentences and slurred words that did not belong together; he found a few exchanges to be worth his while.

After an undisclosed amount of time, his drink was nearly gone and he stared at the bottom of his cup, trying to find the answer to his predicament down there somewhere.

_"Do I truly need another drink?_

The only logical answer he could find at the bottom of his glass was a simple one.

Why the hell not?

Jack called the woman over and took the drink she had in her hands and was somewhat aware of the string of words escaping from her mouth but he was not paying attention to her any longer as he brought the drink to his lips. He had spotted something far more interesting across the room and he found he wanted the barmaid gone so that he could focus on his new find.

"Yeah. Great, darling. Deal with you later." he mumbled and the woman clearly understood that she was no longer wanted at his table, for she left without another unheard word.

She was sitting by herself across the room, tucked away in the corner by the window, a tall plant nearly covering her completely. Jack wouldn't have even been aware of her presence had he chosen to look at the barmaid instead of out the window. Her reflection had not escaped his notice, a reflection of dark red hair and loneliness.

While he sipped his drink, he watched her peering out the window, lost in thought. She did not seem to belong to anyone, she sat absolutely still, and the only one thing that interested her was whatever she was looking at out the window. Jack could not comprehend what it was about the lady that forced him to keep watching her, but he seemed to be unable to look away. After a few moments, much to Jack's surprise, she reached out and placed her palm against glass, her fingers grasping at something unseen. He could tell she happened to be quite out of place, alone in the little corner. What lay just outside the pane that made her stare so? Just then, the she met his gaze in the glass. The woman jumped and turned her head around to see just who had been staring at her and Jack offered up little wave as her brow furrowed and she looked him over.

Now, as off the path of sobriety as he was, Jack still knew when a woman was pretending not to be intrigued, she had just caught him gawking. He did not wait for any form of invitation before standing up and pushing past other drunks to get to where she was. He was unable to locate a vacant seat, so he stole one by gently pushing a sleeping man from his. The man slowly sank to the floor without waking and Jack whispered a "thank you" to the, clearly, dead to the world man. Setting the seat next to the woman, he sat down and was first to speak, as usual.

"I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of giving you some company." he said, resting his elbows on the table, his eyes roaming over her face.

The woman wrinkled her nose up in disgust, and Jack's smile fell instantly.

"If I wanted company I would have allowed the previous man who took such liberties to stay and talk. As you can tell, he is not here. I don't want company." she hissed, her brown eyes willing him to leave.

Jack was not only taken aback by her unabashed rudeness but by her strong accent as well.

"Am I in Ireland?" he thought, "Is this Ireland? What the hell do I need in Ireland? Nothing, that's what. I'm not in Ireland. Am I?"

He then decided that no, he was not stationed in Ireland. He knew he was completely over analyzing the situation. The men back at the last tavern and the current one were British folk with half discernible British accents. Certainly not gentleman and certainly not Irish. He had only had the fortune to meet a handful of Irish people in his lifetime, but they had all been quite well behaved.

"Damn," he muttered, "Is that how foreigners go about saying hello now?"

"Please leave." she said, pulling the oversized jacket she was wearing tighter around her as if to ward him off.

_"God," he thought, standing up, "I aim to be sociable, even nice, and this is what I get."_

"Well, seeing as you asked so kindly, I will take my leave." he said, pushing his chair in roughly, "Just so you are aware, I only wanted to tell you I think you are pretty and tis a shame you are sitting by yourself. Enjoy being alone."

Standing, Jack cleared his throat and decided to saunter off as if he had not just been rejected.

"Wait." she called out as he turned to leave and he smirked before spinning back towards her, surprised to see her standing in front of him.

She gave him a hesitant smile before reaching out with small, delicate fingers and plucking his mug from his hands. Much to Jack's dismay, she brought it to her lips and threw her head back, pouring the liquid down her throat.

"Why the-" he started before she wiped her mouth clean, set the mug on the table and pushed past him towards the door without another word.

Whoever this woman was, Jack had just witnessed her act rather brazen. He liked brazen. If Jack Sparrow found any quality attractive in a woman, it was the ability to be brazen. Yet his blood boiled as he stared at his empty mug on the table. Curses, he was about to cause heaps of trouble. He just could not help himself.

Seething, as he made his way across the tavern and out into the street, Jack furiously searched for the woman among the townspeople. Looking in both directions down the street, he spotted many girls, some who made him do a double take and who caused him to forget the task at hand but none of them were extraordinarily rude Irish women.

"Bullocks." he cursed, leaning against the tavern for support, crossing his arms over his chest.

_"Perhaps it's a good thing you lost her; you have been telling yourself not to start issues tonight. Best call to action now would be to sleep."_

What did it matter anyway? If the woman wanted to sulk alone in a public venue, he didn't assume the right to bother her. He only regretted the fact that she had finished off his rum. Incredibly rude, it was.

"_Take yourself and your bruised ego away from here. You need sleep; you have highly important and otherwise imperative appointments you must keep to tomorrow."_

* * *

As he pushed away trees and brush and entered little cove where he had last left The Pearl he mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done.

"Drunk as you are, mate, your internal compass has not been altered." he said out loud as his boots splashed along in the water.

He continued to talk to himself as he swayed up the coastline, which was a habit he could not seem to break. The cove was surrounded in greenery and the water was some of the clearest Jack had ever had the fortune to see. The moon was bright and reflected against the pulsing waves. Wherever he was, it was a sight to behold.

He had anchored only a few days before, delighted that he had found a way to bypass the docks completely. Jack was tired of tying his precious ship up, giving out false names while handing over his money and risking his freedom just to enter a town; he preferred the use of cunning to the alternative. Sneaking in unscathed and unseen certainly seemed the best way to go about doing things. His head began to pound ferociously and he knew it was time for him to sleep.

Rocks crunched beneath his feet as wandered along and he smiled as he came upon The Pearl, which bathed in moonlight, and imagined she was a woman. A tall, dark haired vixen that had captured his heart and soul completely, a woman who offered him the ecstasy that was utter freedom. The thought nearly gave him chills and he would have continued to dream had he not been shaken by the sight of an actual woman, her hands reaching out to stroke his ship.

"Oi!" he called out, speeding up a bit to catch up to her.

Stopping before she could touch The Peal, the woman spun around but surprisingly did not run at the sight of a lunatic chasing after her. Upon seeing her face, Jack stopped and chuckled, folding his arms across his chest and smirking.

"You." he stated

"God. Are you lost?" the woman sighed, brushing her dark hair away from her face.

"No, actually, I am not lost. I know just where I am." he replied, grinning rather stupidly.

The woman huffed and then shrugged her shoulders at him, moving away from The Pearl and dusting off her hands as if she had come into contact with something dirty.

"Well now that we have established that, I would like to continue on my way without being bothered."

"Actually I lied before. I have completely forgotten my current whereabouts!" he called out, quickening his steps to catch up to her.

"I recall having told you to leave me alone." she muttered without turning around.

"You're correct. You did. Only, I'm curious as to why you, such a little thing, are out and about at dark time without any sort of...companion. Is that not what ladies are typically supposed to have with them at all times? Companions?"

The woman sighed in annoyance and turned to face him. His comment about her height was made due to the fact that she stood only to his chest, and Jack wasn't necessarily the tallest man alive. He was glad to have finally spoken something that caused her to stop walking away from him and he sneered, rather cockily, down at her.

"Listen here, pirate, I am certainly not asking you to leave me be, I am telling you. Mind your own business."

"What sort of manners do you have, speaking rudely to a man you do not know? What sort of woman steals a man's drink?" he asked, amused at her outburst, "And what makes you think I'm a pirate?"

"Is that your ship?" she asked, pointing to the one thing Jack was particularly protective of.

Jack looked up as if he had forgotten that his ship was there. He was far too incapacitated for this sort of flirtatious banter.

"Perhaps." he answered off-handedly.

"If you were a merchant, your ship would be tied up at the docks. Were you a privateer, your ship would be in the harbor. And if you were an officer, you wouldn't have a ship. There's a reason your ship is here. No one frequents this cove; therefore you are trying to hide. If your choice of garb and cutlass didn't give it away, the placement of your vessel did. Pirate."

Jack smiled but it did not mean he was amused with the woman's words. He clenched his teeth behind his closed lips. Nothing was more unattractive than a know-it-all. Even if the know-it-all was wearing near to nothing. Her jacket had fallen open and was revealing a low cut, blue nightgown, and nothing else. Where the hell had this woman come from? She who was running around taverns and coastlines without a damn thing on. He was also curious as to why she had a jacket, of all things, on. The heat was nearly unbearable, yet she had had it wrapped tightly around herself back at the tavern.

"Fantastic deduction skills lass. Yes, that is my ship and she belongs to a pirate. Does that scare you?" Jack asked, stepping in closer and seeming to have lost his previous state of drunkenness. He decided he wanted to be aware of the flirtations currently taking place.

The woman laughed, her dark red hair fell from her shoulders and hung freely down her back.

"Should I be afraid? Are you going to kidnap me?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"I absolutely could if I felt the want to." he purred, stepping in closer.

Jack watched her brown eyes flicker with fear and what he knew for a fact was excitement. She looked away towards the Pearl behind her, her rapid breathing becoming apparent under the silk of her nightgown.

"You would not." she whispered, perhaps wishing to call his bluff.

"Oh, but I would. I quite enjoy kidnapping pretty girls who have wandered too far away from home in the dead of night." he whispered back, reaching out to grab a hold of her chin, forcing her to look at him.

Jack wanted to scare this impolite and rather odd woman. He decided then and there that whoever she was, he was not a fan of hers. He did not like her at all. She had an air about her, one that nearly suffocated him. She was one of the crazy women, the likes of which he had learned to avoid. Jack honestly had other priorities than chasing away crazies.

"Perhaps you should make haste and leave before you find yourself in an inescapable predicament, darling. Unless you have no qualms with being stolen, then by all means, follow me onto my ship and I can find a more suitable place for your clothing, or lack thereof. Perhaps the floor of my quarters."

Her eyes, he found, were no longer looking up at him, but rather down at the sand. It seemed he had frightened her and now, he hoped, she would run along home and he could resume whatever it was he had come to this place to do.

"I have to leave." she uttered, grasping at her chest, her fist full of the material of her nightgown.

"Off you go." he replied, shooing her with his hands.

Much to his dissatisfaction, the woman only continued to stand there before him. But something had changed, she no longer seemed frightened of him, but of something else entirely.

"I only meant to scare you off. You can relax, I honestly am not going to kidnap you." he said, throwing his hands up.

She began to shake viciously and she gasped for air. Horrid sounds left her throat, and as she stepped backwards, she fell down to the sand.

"God." Jack muttered, bending down beside her.

"Are you all right, lass? I honestly meant no harm towards ya."

"Just leave…me alone." she growled, unable to breathe as she stood back up.

Jack followed suit, dusting off his pants as he did.

"Do you require assistance?" he offered, holding out his hand, although he would have rather not aided her.

"No!" she turned back, her eyes full of tears and her face pale against the moonlight. "I am….leaving!"

"Fine." he muttered, shrugging his shoulders.

Turning to leave, the woman stumbled sideways before heading off towards the brush and Jack heard her struggled cries before she disappeared. He stood there for moment, looking around to see if anyone else had happened to witness the fit the crazy woman had just thrown in his presence. Once he saw that he was alone, he ran his hands along his face and yawned.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked, looking up at the night sky, one eye shut against the glare of the moon.

After he received no answer, he sighed and headed off towards The Pearl. He would forget about the psychotic woman in the morning. Besides, he had a sense of urgency. He was supposed to be someplace early the next morning to talk to a person about…well he forgot what about. All he knew, as he slumped into bed, was that the person he was to meet was someone he truly wished he would never have to meet again.


	2. Chapter 2

The only reason Jack had even opened his eyes, was because his brain had not yielded in pounding against his skull for hours. Oh how he regretted the night before. He sat up and groaned with his head in his hands and felt as if he was about to be sick. It wasn't as if he had never been this drunk before, he had been far past this point of intoxication many times, and therefore he was unsure why this particular morning was so rough. As he stood up, which he instantly thought was a stupid idea, he saw his boots across his cabin and he could not recall when he had tossed them over there.

"You just constantly have to surprise yourself, don't you mate?" he asked himself, wobbling over to fetch his boots.

As he reached the other end of his cabin a few moments later attributable to his stopping and groaning every other step, he recalled the night before and sighed.

"God, you acted completely ill-mannered towards that woman," he muttered, "Although you found her irritating and insolent. Good looks cannot redeem one from an awful personality."

_You need to learn to stop talking to yourself, _he thought.

After a few more moments of slipping on his boots, he took a seat at his desk and looked over the papers that littered the surface. Ledgers, his Captain's log, a map of Nassau which made him smile as he recalled a certain night with a woman and her sister. His smile fell quickly though as he came across a small piece of parchment with a name scribbled across it in bold letters. A name that made his stomach clench. He recalled writing this name angrily the other night, and with good reason.

_Marcus_

"Oh bloody hell," he cursed, quickly standing up and racing to the door.

Throwing his cabin door open, he was met with the face of this first-mate, which appeared to be entirely too happy for how horribly early it was.

"Gibbs," Jack mumbled, positioning himself in a manner allowed Gibbs to block the sunrays. "Your face man, you're much too exuberant. Tis early."

Gibbs raised his eyebrow and sighed, shaking his head.

"Captain, tis the middle of the day, ye've slept through half of the mornin' sir."

Groaning, Jack shoved Gibbs aside and rushed onto the deck. His stubby first-mate had been correct; the sun was positioned in the middle of the sky.

"He's going to kill me. I am almost surely a dead man," Jack said, turning back to Gibbs.

"Marcus, sir? Ya are late aren't ya?"

"I happen to be very, very…fashionably late. Shall he forgive me, I wonder?"

"Tis likely he shall not."

On top of the splitting headache Jack found himself experiencing, a sense of terror began to wash over him.

"We should leave! He shall never find me," Jack declared, heading for the helm.

"I believe you know better, Jack. Tis better for ya to go and be late than for ya to never show yer face at all," Gibbs replied.

"Right, I am going now, Gibbs. If I am not back before nightfall, I have died. Do not bother searching for my body, Marcus will have done something ghastly to it."

"Aye Captain," said Gibbs, saluting his Captain with worry on his brow.

Jack followed suit and saluted and as he did he realized he was not wearing his hat. Although, it wasn't important enough for him to detain himself any longer and after whimpering slightly after Gibbs waved him off, he offered a halfhearted prayer to whomever religious folks prayed to when they attended church.

* * *

The day was chilly and Jack struggled to understand how the night before had been so dreadfully hot. A sea breeze swept through the people on the streets and they huddled together to ward off the cold. The smell of fish assaulted him as he passed by a vendor who seemed to enjoy chopping off the heads of the odorous creatures. He desperately wanted to run so as to get to his destination faster, but there were rather official men littering the streets and taverns and he did not wish to call attention to himself. The men were handing out papers to the residents and posting them on doors and shop windows. Whatever was happening at the moment, Jack wanted no part of it.

"Pardon me sir but have you seen this woman?" A man asked, shoving a piece of parchment in Jack's face.

"No mate," Jack replied without even glancing up as he shoved past the young man.

He continued to keep his head down as he turned down an alley to avoid the throng of men up ahead. The town was abuzz and searching for some missing woman. All the better, he thought, for they would not be focused on pirates and their secret meetings. Scurrying through the dark alley, he came to the end to find it suddenly blocked off. He halted and reached for his pistol, his fingers grazing the handle as he faced a hooded figure that was looking down so that he could not see a face. He did not have time to be sidetracked by a brawl.

"I need to get through," he stated, pulling his pistol out and cocking it back, "Please."

"Oh, Jack," The figure sighed, pulling back the dark hood.

Jack's grip on the pistol loosened when he realized who he was staring at. He had not anticipated seeing her, he had been told otherwise.

"Daya," he whispered, lowering his gun, but not doing away with it.

"You are late," the woman scolded, crossing her arms.

"I experienced a late night. You'll forgive me, I'm sure."

"I have been waiting all God damn day for you. For a man who wishes to be pardoned, you do not act as if you deserve to be."

"So you shall not forgive me, your aggression betrays you. Where is your brother?" Jack asked, turning to look behind him so as not be surprised from behind.

"We must talk elsewhere, the town is crawling with officers," Daya replied, pulling her hood over her head and grabbing Jack's wrist, willing him to follow.

Jack did not appreciate being pulled around by a woman he thought he would never see again but he was ultimately not surprised, Daya had always been straightforward in her dealings.

"You do not have to tug so hard," he hissed, pulling his hand away from her.

"You have always been one to complain, Jack. Just follow me; I have a table waiting for us just at this tavern."

Jack obeyed and followed closely behind Daya, stopping every so often to turn away from an officer. Confused as to why she was here and why he had yet to see Marcus, Jack found himself extremely paranoid, even more than he had been before. He knew something was going on, something that did not bode well for him. Before ducking inside the tavern, Daya checked up and down the street to be sure she was not being followed. Jack did the same and as he entered the inn, Daya once again took him by the wrist, lugging him across the room to a table shoved up against the farthest wall. She did not remove her hood until they had seated themselves and even then she seemed afraid that they would be spotted and hung on the spot.

"Were we followed in?" she asked, brushing her brown hair from her face.

"I don't believe so."

"Good. I have been dodging everyone since I arrived. I know half the residents, I cannot be seen. Marcus suggested we meet here in Worthing; a stupid idea if you ask me."

Worthing. Now Jack recalled where he was; the little fishing village of Worthing. He had thought it an ironic place to meet when he had first received word from Marcus. Quite an ironic place indeed.

"Why did he choose this stinking place?" Jack asked

"My brother processes a twisted sense of humor, has it really been so long that you would have forgotten that?"

"Of course not, I was only under the impression that he would have to be incredibly stupid to have suggested we meet in the place where the both of you had grown up. Marcus Moore is not a stupid man, so I found myself confused."

Daya, who was leaning towards the middle of the table so she did not have to shout, shrugged her shoulders.

"As I said, my brother understands how sick and humorous it is."

"Why is he not here? Is he to meet us later?"

Daya ran her tongue along her lips, which forced Jack to recall the countless times he had kissed them, and shook her head.

"He is indisposed so he decided to send me in his stead. It was cruel of him," she replied, glancing around the tavern.

Jack leaned back in his chair and looked her over. It had been nearly seven years since he had seen her last and he summoned up the image of her naked, holding back tears as he pointed his pistol at her. That image had haunted him for years after the deed. His intention had never been to hurt her, she had only been a means to an end at that stage in his master plan and he had told himself many times to not get himself involved with her. Jack did not pride himself on being wise, he had made the wrong decision in letting Daya Moore believe he loved her yet it wasn't the first time he had uttered those three words and not meant them and it should not be the last.

"I absolutely despise you and I am angry with my brother for sending me here, but he had no other choice. He had been called away to Italy at the last possible moment. I absolutely despise you," she hissed, staring him down.

"I am aware of that. So let us get this over with as quickly as we can. What exactly do you want?"

"It is not what I want, it is what Marcus wants. Had I a say in the matter you would have never been contacted. When you did not show up at the agreed time, I left and was ready to sail away from this horrid place but I happened to see you walking and I knew Marcus would be angry if I had left without seeing you."

"So what is it that Marcus wants?" Jack asked, his fingers drumming against the wood of the table.

"He wishes every gold piece paid back to him, every silver piece paid back two fold and he wants our father's ship returned to him along with our father's pistol," she said, hostility spewing from her.

"His ship is currently settled somewhere along the bottom of the Caribbean, Daya. It has not been in my possession for quite some time."

"Then he shall have the ship you do presently have in your possession."

Sitting up quickly and leaning across the table so that their faces were mere inches from each other, Jack narrowed his eyes and spoke in a husky tone that meant he was all business.

"If he believes I am to hand The Pearl over to him, he is sorely mistaken."

"It is only fitting that you relieve yourself of your ship so that you can feel the pain my brother did when you stole the one that belonged to our father," Daya spoke through clenched teeth.

"Do not attempt to make me feel sorry for him Daya. You know why I did what I did."

"Do not think for a moment that I understood your motive for stabbing us in the back simply because I loved you. I was foolish and could not see that you were to betray us. I was merely a girl who, blinded by lies, never thought for a second that greed would have gotten the better of you."

It was a fair blow and Jack retreated with his hands up as he sat back in his chair. He had not come here to fight with her, he had come for the terms and that was all.

"You can feel free to let Marcus know that I shall not relinquish The Pearl to him, I can however find him a different vessel valued at the same price as the one I stole."

"You cannot put a price on our father's ship."

Her blue eyes conveyed anger in his direction but he recalled a time when all he had seen in them was her passion for him.

"I can guarantee Marcus shall find a price that is fitting. He is not one to be sentimental."

"I have given you the terms as spelled out by my brother; if you wish to haggle over them do so with him. I am merely the messenger."

Jack desperately wished for the meeting to end but he found himself remembering just how talkative Daya could be. He would never be allowed to leave.

"When am I to present Marcus with all this treasure?" Jack asked, his eyes searching out a barmaid.

"You are to meet him, in Italy where he is staying, in three months' time," she said.

Jack tilted his head to the side and cocked his eyebrow. He could not have heard her correctly.

"I'm sorry, three months? Are you insane, woman? How the hell am I supposed to get my hands on that much coin in three months? It'll be six months or I shall shoot you where you sit and your brother can bugger off."

Crossing her arms, Daya wrinkled her nose in disgust at him while he pulled his pistol from his waistband and placed it in the middle of the table. A warning that she should agree with the change or else.

"Have it your way then, it shall not matter much to us when we get it so long as we do. You have six months to retrieve our coin and ship and then you shall meet us in Italy where you shall pay your debt to us. Do we have an accord?" she asked, reaching out her hand, palm up.

"Accord, although I was under the impression that this arrangement had nothing to do with you," Jack replied, shaking her hand.

"Sparrow," she whispered as she rose from her seat, pulling her hood over her head, "I love my brother just as he loves me. You know full well that you broke his heart as well as mine that night. I did not meet you today only to wish you dead, I met you today because I love my brother and I shall be loyal to him until I'm not longer living. You shall be contacted soon, if I were you I would not plan to venture far from here until you hear word from us."

Daya walked past him hastily so as to get the last word but she simply was not fast enough, for Jack called after her and he knew she was able to hear him over the clatter of the place because she stopped for moment before leaving the tavern.

"You are just as beautiful as I recall, if not more," he had said, and he had truly meant it. However long it had been and however his betrayal had changed her, she was still the lovely young girl he had wooed.

Jack did not leave the tavern after Daya, he had called over a barmaid and ordered himself a rum. He needed to mull the arrangement and that required him to be tipsy, if not drunk. _Why now?_ He asked himself. He had not heard any word on the whereabouts of the Moores for near a decade and then two weeks ago he had received a letter stating that Marcus had been watching him for an undisclosed amount of time and that if he did not meet him in Worthing that the repercussions would certainly be severe. Jack had not even been privy to any information concerning the health of the siblings, he had honestly not thought about them for many years. There had to be a reason for them meeting now, one that did not just involve Jack paying back his dept.

Sighing, Jack rested his chin in his hand while sipping his beverage.

_How in God's name am I to acquire all that coin and a ship in that amount of time? _Jack asked himself, _Even if I had the good fortune to raid ten ships in that time I would still find myself scrounging to come up with more. Granted, a ship shall be the easiest to come by, but all that gold, and double the silver….God help me I shall be dead before I see another year._

As he finished his rum, Jack went over every possible scenario that his mind allowed him. He was aware of a few sights of treasure, nothing substantial but it was a start. There were always wealthy patrons at every port that he could easily mark and rob, yet he found that risky. The last thing he needed was to end up in a jail cell. Once his cup was empty, he stood up to leave only to remember that Marcus also wished to have his father's pistol returned to him. Jack had never meant for that item to become his, it was simply the closest weapon to him at the time of his treachery. He failed to recall where it was located or if he even still had it.

Before leaving the tavern, Jack peeked out the door to be sure there were no officers wondering about as there had been earlier. He wished for no trouble on his way back to The Pearl and from what he could see, this street was clear of men under the Naval influence. Strutting along the way, he simply could not get the image of Daya out of his mind. He had never loved her, no, but that did not mean he never cared about her. They had been friends, the three of them, and with that came a fondness. A fondness that had turned heated and passionate one night, specifically the night they had robbed a well-off widow, their first heist together. Young, beautiful and willing, Daya had come to him, covered in jewels and nothing else and he had found that he had been wholly unable to reject her offer.

* * *

Jack kept mainly to the side streets, ones that were not being used by the inhabitants of Worthing. Seeing another person was of course unavoidable but his chances of running into someone lessened with him taking back roads. He could see the trees and bushes that hid the cove up head and he would have run to them had he not heard a horrible sound. The noise, which was guttural and frightening, caused him to spin around, his hand placed strategically over his pistol. Upon inspection, he saw nothing, yet he continued to hear the awful uproar.

"Is anyone there?" he asked out loud, his eyes carefully inspecting the area around him.

It came again accompanied by coughing and Jack's face contorted in confusion as he saw movement to his right, a hand was signaling to him from the obscurity of the alleyway, waving frantically for him to come forward. Jack hesitantly moved towards the body part, for he could not see what the hand happened to be attached to. He kept his pistol tight in his grasp as he told himself he must be a complete moron to be advancing upon a foreign noise and a dancing hand.

"I have a weapon. You've been warned," Jack hissed, pointing said weapon into the darkness.

"I cannot….harm you if….I cannot move," someone replied sassily.

"Show yourself."

A labored sigh came from the passageway and Jack responded by cocking his pistol, the echo of the action silencing the dweller in the dark.

"You may find yourself permanently muted if you do not show yourself," Jack growled.

Aware that the situation was not ideal, Jack contemplated forgetting the whole thing and walking away but as the dust stirred in the alley and a dark haired woman poked her head out to greet him, her face pale and her eyes sunken, he sighed and lowered his weapon.

_Congratulations on managing to stay out of trouble, you twit, Jack_ thought.

The woman coughed and while her hand rested against her chest, Jack saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes before she closed them.

"Nevermind…I don't…" she took a short, loud breath before continuing, "require your help."

Jack knew he should take her rejection and move along, yet the poster that had been lopsidedly placed on the tree that had managed to grow against the back of the building begged to differ.

'**Missing'**_**, **_was written in bold lettering, **'Miss Irelia Watson, the ward of Mr. Tobias Peterman was reported missing by her brother, Samuel Watson on the 19****th**** of March in the year of our Lord Seventeen hundred and thirty- five. Miss Watson suffers from a severe illness and therefore must be returned to her family. A REWARD OF FIVE GOLD PIECES SHALL BE GIVEN TO THE PERSON OR PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR HER RETURN.'**

Jack's head hung against his shoulder as he read the poster, his dreadlocks dangling to and fro. His lips formed a smirk as he came to the understanding that the drawing of Miss Irelia Watson resembled the sickly woman in front of him. He suppressed the urge to chuckle while he leaned against the building, taking in the sight of her. This woman's very presence bothered him, her voice made him shiver with disgust as it was displeasing to his ears. Yet five gold pieces called out to him.

"Ah. So you are the reason all these Navy-men are fretting about. You are the one they are looking for," he stated, stepping closer to her, the tips of his boots drowning in shadows as he did so.

A look of panic flashed across her face as she took in a pained breath.

"It would se-seem so," she rasped as she pushed her hair away from her face. "You may be…"

"Do you wish me to return you to your ward? You require medical attention, I would assume," Jack interrupted her.

Irelia erupted into a fit of coughing, the horrid gargle that had been responsible for him discovering her escaped from her. He wondered what ailed her; he had never before seen anything of the sort for the woman was nearly unable to breath. He felt guilty for a moment, a feeling that scarcely haunted him, as he thought about profiting from what any other human being would consider the moral thing to do. He could not leave an ailing woman in the streets, no matter how annoying he found her, for she would surely be dead by morning. The fact that he had been the first to find her told him that no one had thought to search the back roads. No one would come around again for a long while, and she did not have a long while.

Finally, Irelia was able to speak, and when she did, Jack remembered why he was not fond of her.

"No, I do not want your help," she forced out before she struggled to breathe again.

_Rude, annoying and stubborn to top it all off. What a gem, _Jack thought as he placed his pistol in his waistband. _Well, I can be stubborn too._

"Let us go, Miss Watson," Jack mumbled as he bent down and scooped her into his chest.

"I swear…to God. Put me back!"

_Five gold pieces, five gold pieces, _Jack thought over and over again as he righted himself with her him his arms, cradle style.

"I don't want to go!" she choked out, coughing into his chest.

Jack held her firmly, although she hardly wriggled against him, he found that she did not possess the energy to contest her capture however much she acted as if she did. The jacket that had sheltered her the evening before had been shed, and now her nightgown remained the only article that covered her. With eyes burning, Irelia thumped her closed fist into Jack's upper body and while it bothered him he could hardly feel her attempts of violence.

"Now stop fussing, it shall only hinder your condition," Jack chastised, glaring down at the woman.

Her skin gleamed against the color of her hair, but it was not a beautiful glow: sweat covered and pale, despite the chill, the Irelia quivered involuntarily as Jack carried her back into the populated area of the town. He had made up his mind to hand her over to the nearest Navy man and then claim his reward forthwith. He would then sneak away, swiftly, so that by the time they realized they had handed a wanted man five gold pieces, he would be on the deck of The Pearl while admiring his glimmering payment.

Irelia found the strength every few moments to be sure Jack was aware that she absolutely revolted against the idea of being returned. A punch to the arm, a curse directed towards him or an occasional growl became her way of combating him.

"You'd be wise to desist, love. 'Tis becoming bothersome, what you're doing. If you start crying, it shall only make me locate the officials faster."

"I never cry," Irelia croaked, seizing his forearm as she forced in a breath.

Jack snorted at the comment and as he came around the corner and entered upon the busy street he heard a gasp from an old woman passing by. He assumed the sight of Irelia in his arms did not translate well to those who were not privy to the situation. Not that it mattered much to him, people had the right to believe what they wanted, he must have looked along the lines of a kidnapper but he spoke not a word as he moved against the flow of people towards a tall man outfitted in a Navy uniform. Smiling to himself, Jack imagined the weight of coin in his pocket; five gold coins bouncing off of one another as he made off in the direction of The Pearl

"Excuse me, my good man," Jack called out, lifted Irelia up in his arms as he danced around a couple to get closer to the Officer, "I believe I have unearthed that which your brethren have been attempting to locate."

Irelia made a point to huff in-between her wheezing and the Officer raised his gun hesitantly. Jack's smile faded as he did so and he sorely regretted that fact that his hands were busy holding the woman, for he did not have access to his own weapon.

"Mr. Wells!" The young Officer called, and Irelia perked up at the name, although she pretended to that it had not affected her that way it had when Jack looked down at her with a questioning gaze.

The man whom Jack assumed held the title of "Wells" rushed over and snatched Irelia from his grasp without a word.

"Gentle now, she ain't in good health," Jack said, startled, his face telling of his annoyance.

Wells, who held on to Irelia tightly, gave a swift nod to his young comrade and before Jack had the chance to negotiate his prize, the butt of a pistol came into his view and cracked him square in the nose. Jack's one thought before black overtook him and he crashed to the ground was: _Shit. _


End file.
